Bids under the Udan scheme to be given out in January 2017

Most airports in India are facing capacity issues. Considering that building an airport is a long-drawn process, there is a need to triple India’s airport capacity. These words come straights from Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, as he has been reportedly quoted in various news sources.

Sinha has been further quoted from a recent event saying that in 10 years, four airport hubs will come up in India. Delhi airport is single-largest infrastructure project, to which another runway will be added. Also, the Centre is working towards upgrading Chennai as a global airport. This apart, the centre will look at Bengaluru and Kolkata as well. These decisions has been a result to the passenger growth in India, which has been averaged at around 10 -11 per cent over the last 10 years.

Further, plans are being laid to double the current 75 airports with scheduled services in the next two to three years to serve the largely untapped domestic aviation industry. Also, it is known that the government has plans to develop regional hub airports providing connectivity to local towns and cities and is also looking at establishing a major cargo and manufacturing hub.

On July 1, this year, the government unveiled a draft UDAN scheme in order to make flying affordable for the common man. And, the government is expected to raise about Rs 400 crore to run the UDAN air connectivity scheme. It has been asking airlines to bid for these routes – the lowest bidder will be the winner – that provide connectivity to other major airports. While the scheme aims at developing regional routes that are underdeveloped, finally bids will be given out in January 2017, creating an entirely new regional market.